Ghost Town

Ghost Town is the name given to the three-dimensional environment where the initial cutscene of Grand Theft Auto III (where Claude is helping Catalina rob a bank, before being betrayed and shot) takes place. This area has an actual location in the game map, which is set isolated from the 3D era rendition of Liberty City — the game regular setting because it is not intended to be accessed during normal gameplay. Despite being almost entirely non-solid, the area has elements of a normal large city, such as streets and stores and it was possibly designed to be a totally playable area, but Rockstar developers could have cut it from the game final version for uncertain reasons.

"Liberty City Bank" Ghost Town

Overview

The Ghost Town is noticeably more detailed than Liberty City itself; the alley behind the bank contains dumpsters, cardboard boxes, and even various items of garbage strewn across the ground. Most of the apartments above the alley/streets also feature air conditioning units on the windows, like some buildings in real-life. The sidewalks, however, are empty, with the exception of a few street lights and parking signs.
It is highly likely that Rockstar designed the Ghost Town simply for the introduction cutscene of the game, and decided to not place it in Liberty City itself, so simply placed it off to the side of the map, where it would be difficult for the player to get to.

Access

During gameplay, it can only be accessed by flying the Dodo there, but can also be seen through the upstate hills area of Shoreside Vale, with the help of a sniper. Very few of the objects are solid, and those that are solid are tiny props (two wooden crates behind the Liberty City Bank), so there is nowhere to land. If using cheats, the flying cars cheat can also get the player to the Ghost Town. There are two modifications that allow the player to reach the Ghost Town easily via bridge. One just solidifies the Ghost Town, and the other solidifies it and adds in some buildings, and extra room. Half of the small landmass is located above water and the other half is located over a large entrance into blue hell along with others seeing as how the backside of the hills aren't complete, and the player can see into Shoreside Vale and the entire layout.

Ghost

The graphic bug is named the 'Ghost Town' as of the buildings and roadways being unsolid like a Ghost, and the fact that the area is void of any pedestrians or vehicles. Even when using the Solidified Mod or the Bridge mod, the first part of the road is not solid and will just drive you into a waterpatch. The Mod also adds ground next to what normally would just be road and a few buildings. The player can walk and drive through every building, and jump into the gaping blue hell entrance which is also seen in Upstate.

Trivia

Dezma - Life Is But A Mere Supply, a song on Head Radio from GTA III, gives a clue that the Upstate Tunnels in 2001 could lead to the Ghost Town, as life in Ghost Town must be mere, and she mentions that the streets just turned to stone, which may be the stone texture infront of the tunnel blockings.

The Liberty City Bank may be an entrance to Blue Hell, because if the player focuses on the giant blue hell entrance with the sniper through Shoreside Vale, the bank is seen, but if not focusing on blue hell, the edge of gameworld just surrounds the bank area.

The Ghost Town may only be a resemblance to Carcer City as of in the opening cutscene, the town is a mirror image of Ghost Town.

Another clue that the Upstate Tunnels lead to Ghost Town is that if jumping into the big Blue Hell entrance in Ghost Town, it leads you either to Porter Tunnel under Cedar Grove or outside the Cochrane Dam tunnel, and in Ghost Town, when the player focuses on Shoreside Vale, you can spot the upstate tunnels and a black semi-circular block coming out of the tunnel, pointing straight at the town

The bank in the opening cutscene is called 'Liberty City Bank'. Oddly, the news report that plays after the opening cutscene, says 'the prisoner was transferred to nearby Liberty City'.

Businesses

Liberty City Stories

In Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories the area does not exist, since it was not needed. In 1998 there is some evidence leading to the actual name for the part of the city with it being Upstate. The reason for this is in both GTA III and GTA Liberty City Stories, there is a road tunnel up in Cedar Grove. In 2001 the tunnel is inaccessible (even if the player somehow manages to get behind the roadblocks, the small area isn't solid). In 1998, though, the tunnel can be entered. In the middle there is a road that is blocked off for unknown reasons. This road is not accessible, but is with the help of a helicopter. No part of the road is solid and the road also would appear as if it was going uphill. The very end of the road has no wall or anything in front of it; it stops and dangles above Blue Hell. Also close to the location of the small strip of land there is a pipeline to what would appear as one from The Mars Gas Corporation. This was placed as a boundary which would also be absent in GTA III, however the player is able to fly under it but not over it.